A space where everyone is welcome to share about Ruston ~ small town America surrounded by urban Tacoma.

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Council Meeting Notes: Dec. 18, 2012

The meeting began at 7:02pm with all elected officials present.
After roll call and the flag salute, the agenda was approved with no changes.
There were no minutes presented to discuss.

Staff Reports

Police: Chief Kunkel said the Christmas tree lighting and
visit with Santa (that included issuing id’s for kids) all went very well. The
toy and food drive were successful with lots of donations. February 23rd,
Kunkel is chairing the Special Olympics fundraiser “Polar Bear Plunge” at Point
Defiance. He will be getting wet and invited the mayor and council to join him.
The chief then outlined last month’s calls and noted that the department has received
their new decibel reader so they can better enforce Ruston’s noise ordinances.

Fire: Chief Torbet echoed the good news on the holiday
celebrations and thanked the community for their support. He said the CPR
training will start again in January. Torbet had met with Tacoma dispatch today
in hopes of reaching an agreement for emergency dispatch services. South Sound 911
(on the agenda) is only for police dispatch at this time. The Tacoma system has
superior voice quality and better radio coverage in our area.

The department did their first patient transport today.
There were 8 medical aid and 2 fire calls last month. The department is on
track to have more calls this year than 2011. They are taking applications for
two vacant positions right now. Councilmember Hardin asked about the dispatch
equipment needed for Tacoma. The costs should be about the same and within
budget. Councilmember Hunt confirmed 25 radios are needed for the department.

6.Ordinance 1390 – Budget Adoption (2nd Reading):
Hunt thanked the mayor for all his hard work on the budget. Hardin apologized
to Chief Kunkel for saying his budget was 25% over last year. It was the accounting
that was misunderstood, not a problem with how the chief budgeted. The mayor
reviewed the budget again (see notes from last meeting for details). After a lengthy
discussion about extending medical benefits to police officer spouses, it was
decided the mayor would do more research. The council will hold a special meeting on Thursday, December 27th to adopt the budget. The final
budget is dependent on the costs for the medical coverage.

8. Resolution 530 – South Sound 911 (SS911) Agreement: Hedrick
wanted a written response from the SS911 board to the changes requested by the
Ruston attorney. It is unlikely they will be granted since so many other
municipalities have signed the agreement as presented. Hunt felt Ruston has a
good attorney and thought the town should contact the other cities to see if
they wanted the same changes. The motion was made to request the mayor to get
the agreement changed, passed 5-0.

Claims & Payroll

The cost for the 2012 audit was not in the budget. Another
audit is expected in 2013 because of the HUD loan for the sewer project.

Mayor’s Time

The conversion to the new garbage collection system is going
well.

Council Time

Hedrick: KING 5 called him about a story. He doesn’t have anything
against the adult entertainment industry and understands the constitutional
issues, but doesn’t think it’s right that a small, neighborhood city like
Ruston should have to allow it. He wished everyone Merry Christmas and Happy
New Year and was pleased with the new garbage collection system.

Hunt described her hot water tank failing recently and felt it was because
of dust from Point Ruston.

Hardin said new state representative Jake Fey offered to
champion funding for capital improvement projects in Ruston. The mayor pointed
out the Pearl Street lighting and other street improvements that have been talked
about. Hedrick felt it was difficult to get street projects funded. Hardin
noted that projects have to be engineered before the state would consider
funding them. Mayor Hopkins informed the council that the cost to underground utilities
to Rust Park would be coming before them soon.

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